Fort Union- The Target of the 1800s {North Dakota}

 

While at the Fort Peck Museum, I picked up a National Park brochure for North Dakota. I was excited to find all three sites were along our intended route!

Our first stop in North Dakota, the Fort Union Trading Post, was basically the Target of the 1800s. Native tribes in this area had been trading with each other for centuries. When the European-American traders brought with them goods from Europe, the natives came to desire these new items. Fort Union was built as a place to store goods and carry out trades. Here they could trade animal furs for guns, pots, tools, beads and other items wanted by nine different tribes. The relationships between traders and tribes were very amicable and mutually beneficial. There were no white women living in the area, so once being welcomed into the native's social circle, traders began marrying Indian women. When the fort eventually closed after 39 years, many men honored their marriage commitment, while some abandoned their family to head back east.

A ranger told us all about the trading that went on here. Approximately 400,000 buffalo skins were traded for other goods each year. The trade process could take 4-6 hours for a representative to make a deal on behalf of his people.

It was important for the traders to know the customs of their customers. For example, one tribe believed owls were a sign that someone you love will die. The traders had a taxidermied snowy owl on display, that needed to be hidden before that tribe came in or else it could ruin their relationship with them.

Some of the items that were traded are on display, including beads from around the world and cloth from Switzerland. A fancy coat was a sign of wealth and appreciation. Wives made the purchases and a coat cost 15 buffalo hides, which was usually all that was left after a year of trading. So for a woman to spend a year's worth of savings for her husband to have a coat, it made a big statement.

Journey and Asher tried out the bear and bison hides. They are HEAVY!

So what happened to the bison? Well lots were killed for their hides, but many more died from disease, drowning, and young ones' bellies would rub raw on the rocks and birds would peck at them. 

In the museum we found the first print of their newspaper from 1864!

A musical mouth harp (above)    coins (below)